Christmas Adjournment

Debate between Bob Stewart and Marion Fellows

Thursday 20th December 2018 Westminster Hall

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson. I intend to do a quick run round the room and touch on what other hon. Members have spoken about, but I will make it short.

We owe the hon. Member for Gateshead (Ian Mearns), the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee, a debt of gratitude for his work throughout the year. He talked passionately about Gateshead. He even dragged me there—sorry; he arranged a visit to Gateshead for the Education Committee and I had a lovely time. I especially liked the wonderful Gateshead College.

The hon. Member for Southend West (Sir David Amess) had a long list of organisations in his constituency, and I will emulate him in a minute. He hopes to still be an MP at 100, by which time Southend may have reached city status.

The hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh) talked about issues that affect all hon. Members present, such as housing, the effect of really expensive rents and the effect of universal credit, which has puts lots of people in our constituencies into debt.

The hon. Member for Beckenham (Bob Stewart) spoke about iso—

[Bob Stewart]

Isotretinoin.

[Marion Fellows]

I thank the hon. Gentleman. He spoke about the dangers that some young people, in particular, are going through as a result of using it. He really wants the drug to be reviewed and perhaps its use halted, to save people from the horrendous symptoms that they can experience.

The hon. Member for Keighley (John Grogan) spoke about rugby league. Yes, I remember it when I was growing up; I remember Eddie Waring and Keighley in their heyday. I know that he spoke about other things, too, but I really have to move on.

The hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) gave us a very sobering reflection on religious freedom and how important it is in this country. He talked about Jainism, about Sikhs and about the problem of getting religious information on censuses.

I was quite horrified to hear about the wildcats on “Good Morning Scotland” this morning. As the hon. Member for East Lothian (Martin Whitfield) said, they have been interbreeding with feral cats, which is an animal welfare issue. He also talked about Brexit and universal credit.

The hon. Member for Cleethorpes (Martin Vickers) gave a great summary of the previous speakers; he was probably much better at that than I am. I am grateful to him, in that respect, because I have been able to rush through some of the others. He also spoke very knowledgably about the work of his two local authorities, as well as speaking about Humber ports and direct rail connections.

The hon. Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell) spoke about post offices. As Members will know, I have a personal interest in them, having lost my own post office. The post office in Wishaw was closed for three weeks, because it was not possible to get another person to take over the sub-postmastership, which caused my constituents great suffering. She also spoke about NHS land and what happens to it, which is another real issue, as did the hon. Member for Stafford (Jeremy Lefroy), who also talked about drones. I cannot get an earlier flight from London City airport because what has happened at London Gatwick has had an impact right across the United Kingdom; it is really serious. He also talked about work overseas, especially in Africa, and I am grateful to him for some of the knowledge he gave me that I did not have beforehand.

I seriously hope that I have not missed anyone out. I will move on to the hon. Member for Glasgow North East (Mr Sweeney), who has had a very interesting time since he became an MP. He cut right through a number of things. He is an enthusiastic supporter of the Glasgow School of Art, which is in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow Central (Alison Thewliss). His own constituency has the famous St Rollox rail works, which I know. My husband took me to Springburn on our honeymoon, to show me where he had been born and lived. However, when we turned the corner, we found that the building he had been born in had been demolished. I make light of it, but there is Springburn Museum for the hon. Gentleman’s delectation and delight, in which there is a picture of my husband on coronation day in 1953, watching his sisters in a race to celebrate the Queen’s coronation. I will not mention where I was then.

With your indulgence, Mr Robertson, I will mention my own constituency of Motherwell and Wishaw, of which I am extremely proud. It is a haven for refugees and has been since 1919. The first group that I can remember are the Lithuanian refugees who came over after the first world war. There have also been Polish refugees and, more recently, Congolese refugees, who were taken to Motherwell, and the Syrian refugees, who have also been placed and welcomed in my constituency. Indeed, when there was a move by some right-wing organisations to demonstrate against refugees being settled in Wishaw, I am very proud to say that many citizens of Wishaw stood at the bottom cross in Wishaw and campaigned for the refugees’ successful integration, which I believe is really happening. In Motherwell and Wishaw, when children of refugees go to school and meet local children, it becomes a real exercise in getting along together.

I will also talk a bit about what I did as an MP when I was first elected in 2015. We saw a need and we set up the Poverty Action Network, because we knew there were lots of local organisations fighting poverty and we wanted to bring them together and facilitate the exchange of ideas. We have the Basics food bank; St Vincent de Paul; Lanarkshire Links; Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire; Scottish Action for Mental Health; Neighbourhood Networks; Made4U in ML2; Citizens Advice; Motherwell Baptist Church; Safeguarding Communities—Reducing Offending, or Sacro; Women’s Aid; Routes to Work; Big Lottery Fund; Christians Against Poverty; The Haven; Lanarkshire Community Food and Health Partnership; North Lanarkshire Disability Forum; Alzheimer Scotland; Getting Better Together; NL Leisure; Motherwell Football Club Community Trust, because Motherwell is now a community-owned football club; Families Against Murder and Suicide; Chris’s House, which helps families who have suffered the suicide of a family member; Lanarkshire Cancer Care Trust, to which I am especially grateful as it transported my late husband to a hospice on a weekly basis; Community Care Scotland; North Lanarkshire Carers Together; Wishaw, Murdostoun and Fortissat Community Forum; South Wishaw Parish Church; Miracle Foundation, which provides parties and support for young children who have lost parents or other close relatives; Lanarkshire Baby Bank; One Parent Families Scotland; the Welfare Rights Team in North Lanarkshire Council; North Lanarkshire Partnership; Scottish Welfare Fund; NHS Lanarkshire; and Police Scotland, especially the police based in Motherwell.

 Orkambi and Cystic Fibrosis

Debate between Bob Stewart and Marion Fellows

Monday 19th March 2018 Westminster Hall

[Marion Fellows]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman. We are talking about people whose lives are shortened and people whose lives are deeply affected. These people could be of such benefit to society as a whole. It is difficult for me to think beyond my granddaughter, and it is also difficult to listen to stories of what might happen. I know she is lucky, but I also know and am passionately concerned about other children who are even more affected by CF than she is. We owe it to them and to people who will inherit CF in future.

I have to be a carrier of the CF gene, and my husband must also be a carrier. We were so lucky that none of our children were affected. It is a terrible, silent disease. The fact that CF sufferers cannot even get together for comfort and mutual support—it all has to be done through parents’ groups—is even more heartbreaking.

[Bob Stewart]

I am deeply affected by listening to the story of the hon. Lady’s granddaughter. When did the hon. Lady and her husband know that they were carriers? That is pretty important.

[Marion Fellows]

I probably am a carrier—unfortunately, for another reason, we have not been tested yet. That is another issue that we will deal with. It would help future research. Actually, after my daughter was tested, she said to me, “Mum, you and dad must go out and buy a lottery ticket—you must be the luckiest people around,” because I have three children and none of us has CF.

The Scottish Government are encouraging patient representatives to participate in Scottish Medicine Consortium meetings. That must be a good driver to let clinicians and other medical people see with their own eyes the difficulties undergone by people who cannot access these drugs.

Sir Roger, you have been most considerate, and I will now sum up. There is an overarching need for a change in the way in which new drugs are approved for use. Cost-benefit analysis needs to be used to calculate the true costs. For example, we should look at reductions in hospital care costs and include the benefits to the economy from the use of these drugs—especially Orkambi, which is our exemplar for now. Of course, CF suffers must be able to play a full part in society and, as we have heard, they could do so if they could access drugs.

Orkambi could be just the start of a whole line of drugs that will benefit CF suffers. No one can cure the disease at the moment, but such drugs will lead to so many more better and productive lives. Yes, there are issues around pricing new drugs. Pharmaceutical companies are not there for charitable purposes, and we all know and understand how expensive it is to create new drugs, but there must be a better way of pricing the cost of new drugs at their introduction across years of their use rather than huge up-front costs.

I was asked by the Scotland parents support group to demand that the Minister takes responsibility for the negotiations with Vertex, and that he brings NHS England and Vertex Pharmaceuticals to the table. Deals and negotiations should never be conducted by email. I am happy to do so, and I wait with interest for his response.